Best DVD Recorder / VCR Combo under $300

[Louis Cyphre]

It's about time for me to back up those bulky VHS tapes. As for Picture/sound quality, I don't know what I can expect with this kind of money, but I heard about Philips and Panasonic models. Anyway, if you can help me with the decision, I'd appreciate it very much.

[GISChristy]

Panasonic DMR-ES40V $300

3 days ago I bought this unit. Epinions says it is great (consistent reviews). I burned from camcorder to it though the firewire jack and it worked well. I copied from VHS to DVD by the on touch transfer and it worked well. Now I am trying to use my DVD burner to copy them to my pc and make copies of the DVDs and am having a struggle. Maybe its a learning process or maybe the files its creating are having problems? I have been able to play the dvds it has created on another dvd player as well as on my pc. So, I am thinking its me who has the problem with the files and not the panasonic.

With that said, it is quite the unit with lots of options. It took me the better part of the day to figure out some of it and there is lots to learn but I think it is a good/great purchase. Hope this helps.

[BR7]

You might want to check out Toshiba D-VR4 $279.99 and its on sale this week $30 0ff so it would be $249.99
<a href="http://www.crutchfield.com/S-2eKdQGXu1nJ/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?i=052DVR4">Crutchfield</a>

Details:

DVD recorder/player:

&#187; records to the following types of discs:
• write-once DVD-Rs, for making permanent recordings
• rewritable DVD-RWs and DVD-RAM discs, for making recordings you can watch and then erase
&#187; plays DVD-Video, DVD-R & DVD-RW, DVD-RAM, and Video CD
&#187; plays music CD, and MP3 & WMA CD-R & CD-RW
&#187; plays digital photo CDs (JPEG)
&#187; Chase Play recording/playback with DVD-RAM discs
&#187; progressive-scan playback for smoother video with HD-compatible TVs (via the component video output)
&#187; record to DVD while watching VHS, or vice versa
&#187; 4 DVD recording settings (XP, SP, LP, SLP)
&#187; optical and coaxial digital audio outputs for Dolby&#174; Digital/DTS&#174;
&#187; 2 sets of A/V inputs (2 composite, 2 S-video)
&#187; composite video output for DVD/VCR; S-video & 480i/480p component video outputs for DVD only
&#187; RF input/output for cable/antenna signals
&#187; front-panel A/V input with S-video
&#187; 54MHz/10-bit video DAC
&#187; 96kHz/24-bit audio DAC
&#187; designed to play "Region 1" pre-recorded DVDs

VCR:

&#187; HiFi stereo with MTS decoding
&#187; 4 video heads
&#187; two VHS recording settings (SP and SLP)

General:

&#187; 125-channel tuner
&#187; auto clock and channel set
&#187; remote control
&#187; 16-15/16"W x 3-9/16"H x 14"D
&#187; warranty: 1 year parts, 90 days labor
&#187; Want more peace of mind? Extended Service Plans Available

[bobi77581]

hi y'all ...a newbie here...
i' new to video and to these message forums...so if i break the rules please let me know....nuff said about all that...i don't want to ofend...

we also just purchased (2 days ago)the panasonic dmr-es40v...in hopes of taking all of those old family vhs and 8mm videos to dvd. i thought it would be as simple as making the dvd then loading it all into premiere 6.5 and editing them all together...boy, was i in never never land! i'm new to all of this so it's a real learning process. i've learned that i have to, somehow, convert the dvd output files, vob/ifo/bup, to mpeg2 or avi....still don't know how i'm going to do that. i just tried to convert with DivX (demo s/w) but it doesn't like the 'variable rate' or something like that...so it's back to searching. how does everyone else do this? how do you edit video, other that inputing video via a video capture system (meaning more needed /h/w and s/w) which i was really hoping to avoid...
any one out there have any advice? any tips trick or valuable info thay want to share. i sure would appreciate it!
best regards to all...tia for any assist.!
bobi77581(crazymama48)

[bobi77581]

me again...am i in the wrong place on this forum for asking thes questions?
tks
bobi77581

[bobi77581]

me again...am i in the wrong place on this forum for asking thes questions?
tks
bobi77581

[bobi77581]

GISChristy

i also purchased this unit....and wanted to copy family video/vhs and 8mm...so far managed to copy to the dvd...that went great

Now I am trying to use my DVD burner to copy them to my pc and make copies of the DVDs and am having a struggle.

what s/w are you trying to load the dvd file to, for editing? i am using adobe premiere 6.5 and my problem was the input file format for the editing s/w(adobe uses mpeg and avi)....i had to convert the dvd files to avi files and then everything went smoothly.

to convert the files i had to find a piece of software that would do that conversion.....there are many out there and i'm still looking around. i found one that worked for me with my basic understanding of what is going on, FLASH DVD Ripper. now my next step on this steep learning curve is... to test edit in premiere and output to dvd format again, so as to play on a the dvd player...i hope this helps you some...as i am a newbie also i don't have much info to offer....
goodx luck
bobi77581